Solar geoengineering may have uneven climate effects
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A recent study suggests that solar geoengineering, an approach aimed at reflecting sunlight to reduce global temperatures, could lead to uneven regional impacts. The findings indicate that changes in ozone levels caused by SG may increase certain UV radiation, affecting atmospheric chemistry and altering climate patterns. This could result in warming in some areas and cooling in others. While the study doesn’t rule out the potential of SG, it highlights the need for a deeper understanding of its possible side effects and reinforces that it should not replace efforts to reduce emissions.
Source
Moch, J. M., Mickley, L. J., Eastham, S. D., Lundgren, E. W., Shah, V., Buonocore, J. J., et al. (2023). Overlooked long-term atmospheric chemical feedbacks alter the impact of solar geoengineering: Implications for tropospheric oxidative capacity. AGU Advances, 4, e2023AV000911. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023AV000911
Additional Reading
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/09/22/ozone-layer-health-air-pollution/
https://eos.org/editor-highlights/unexpected-consequences-of-solar-geoengineering